The first week of the 2023 preseason is in the books. It’s time to overreact!
No, no, no. Only calm, rational reactions coming in this recap of Preseason Week 1. Swear. Here are all of my fantasy football takeaways. And check out a few of my notes below.
- Snake Draft Pick Strategy: Early | Middle | Late
- Draft Targets for Every Round: Early | Middle | Late
- Fitz’s Draft Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Preseason Week 1 Takeaways
Here are a few position-by-position fantasy takeaways from the first week of exhibition games:
Running Backs
- The Eagles’ backfield may be even messier than we thought. Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott were held out of the game — while Rashaad Penny and D’Andre Swift both played. It’s possible the Eagles were trying to familiarize Penny and Swift with their system in a game setting. And Eagles head coach Nick Siriani told reporters after the game not to read too much into it. But Gainwell has reportedly been the primary passing-down back throughout camp. His ADP is RB59, and Gainwell looks like a value at that price. Swift could be vastly overvalued at RB24 if he isn’t playing on passing downs. Penny is reasonably priced at RB34.
- Khalil Herbert seems to be the clear chairman of the Bears’ RB committee. Or maybe it’s not really a committee at all. Herbert was on the field for all seven of Bears QB Justin Fields‘ snaps in Chicago’s preseason opener, had four carries for 15 yards, and turned a short dump-off pass into a 56-yard touchdown. D’Onta Foreman played with the backups on Chicago’s third offensive series. Rookie Roschon Johnson played behind Herbert, Foreman and even Trestan Ebner.
- Travis Etienne is the Jaguars’ undisputed lead back, but it’s possible he’ll lose the highest-value touches (goal-line carries and targets) to other backs. JaMycal Hasty got passing-down snaps with the starters in Jacksonville’s preseason opener, and Tank Bigsby got a short-yardage carry.
- The Texans held RB Dameon Pierce out of their preseason game and played newcomer Devin Singletary. That could be taken as a sign that Pierce is the clear RB1 in the Houston backfield and Singletary a mere backup.
- Fleet-footed Dolphins rookie De’Von Achane wasn’t prominently featured in his first preseason game. Miami didn’t play veterans Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson, and Achane played behind Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed in the Dolphins’ preseason opener against the Falcons.
- It’s hard to make any sweeping judgments about the Minnesota backfield based on the Vikings’ preseason opener when neither Alexander Mattison nor Kene Nwangwu played, but Ty Chandler played ahead of rookie DeWayne McBride, and Chandler played well. The second-year back had 11 carries for 41 yards and four catches for 29 yards.
- Titans rookie Tyjae Spears looks like the handcuff to Derrick Henry. Spears played ahead of Hassan Haskins and looked good, rushing six times for 32 yards. Haskins had six carries for 12 yards and punched in a one-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
More of Fitz’s Fantasy Football Draft Advice
- Pat Fitzmaurice: (Targets | Avoids) (Premium)
- Fitz’s Perfect Draft
- Fitz’s Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
- Fitz’s Quarterback Primer
- Fitz’s Running Back Primer
- Fitz’s Wide Receiver Primer
- Fitz’s Tight End Primer
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